News of the postponement of the undisputed heavyweight world title clash between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, which was scheduled to take place on February 17th, came as a bitter blow to boxing fans.
The historic bout was pushed back due a cut sustained by Fury in sparring on Friday, much to the frustration of Team Usyk, with the Ukrainian’s manager labelling ‘The Gyspy King’ a “f***ing coward!”
Footage, albeit of poor quality, quickly surfaced of the sparring session, with Croatian heavyweight Argon Smakici the man who did the damage.
And Smakici has now given his side of the story to the press – and refutes claims from the WBC champion and his backers that it was an illegal elbow that caused the wound.
According to Boxing Talk, Smakici stated:
“It was a clear punch, so I don’t feel bad.”
Various news outlets have contacted the 33 year old for further information, though at the time of writing he has kept hush.
Though news of the Fury – Usyk postponement remains a crushing blow, it has been softened somewhat by the swift organising of a new date by His Excellency Turki Alalshikh and the Saudis.
The four belt unification will now take place on May 18th alongside the original undercard, which features the likes of Jai Opetaia, Joe Cordina and Sergey Kovalev.
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Alalshikh has also claimed there will be a $10 million penalty should either man pull out of the new date.
A joint interview with Fury, Usyk and his manager Egis Klimas and Alalshikh went live on The MMA Hour over the weekend, which ended in a heated back and forth between Klimas and Fury.
Tyson Fury and Egis Klimas exchange words on The MMA Hour 🗣
🎬 @jedigoodman / @arielhelwani #FuryUsyk | #BoxingFans pic.twitter.com/gMasKX3v8r
— IFL TV (@IFLTV) February 3, 2024
The Morecambe favourite was incensed by Klimas’ labelling him a coward and questioning the legitimacy of his injury, and proceeded to threaten to “take his f***ing teeth out.”
It now appears that there is even more spice between the two world champions and their teams, which could make the build up for the rescheduled date very interesting indeed.
